BOD Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021

ABS Board Meeting 4/13/21

The meeting was called to order by Ellen Heck at 5:47pm after a quorum of Board members was met.

Roll Call was not performed but attendance was recorded from Zoom participants’ screen names. Ellen Heck, Dara Silver, Christopher Gilmore, Larry Barron, Ellen Coble, Brian Cole, Brittany Emery, Tomisha Gladman, Chrissy Hardy, Michelle Taylor Kennedy, Shannon Meares, Griff Morgan, and Bill Scheidt were present

Non-voting Members: Principal Robin Hollis, Assistant Principal Paige Raper

Parent Council Members: Katherine White, Becky Dickson

Shannon Meares moved to approve the March Minutes, which were emailed to the Board prior to the meeting. This was seconded by Griff Morgan. The March Minutes were approved by unanimous vote.

Brittany Emery presented the March Financials, which were emailed to the Board prior to the meeting. The financials are where we expected them to be at this point in the year with excess revenue at $415K. We expect to break even at the end of the year. The motion to approve the March Financials came from the Finance Committee. This was seconded by Christopher Gilmore. The March Financials were approved by unanimous vote of The Board.

Brittany went on to detail the proposal to contract once again with Les Merritt CPA, CFP, who has performed our audit for the last several years, at a rate of $7700- no change from previous rate. A motion to continue working with the firm came from the Finance Committee. This was seconded by Dara Silver. The motion was approved by vote of The Board.

Robin Hollis presented The Principal’s Report. Both of our current counselors will be leaving- Scott Ertl will be retiring and Amanda Sullivan will be taking time off to take care of her mother. A School Counselor will be sought to replace their roles. COVID ESSER II funding has provided us the opportunity to hire an Education Interventionist to address the learning loss in students that were brought about by a year of school disruption, remote learning, and the global impact of COVID. These are typically students who are so far below grade level that their classroom teacher would not be able to address their needs. We may obtain two years of funding from the ESSER II grant. Grant submission is due May 7. The Performance Framework Report was summarized, and all requirements were met. Academic Outcomes were marked non-applicable due to the lack of End of Grade Testing during 2019-20. EOG testing will be conducted next month, starting May 17, and will be spread across several days due to cohort learning and the in-person requirement. A motion to approve submission of the grants for Title I/Title II/IDEA funding came from Brian Cole and was seconded by Dara Silver. The motion was approved by a vote of the Board. ESSER III grant submission is also due May 7. These funds are available for four years. We are still awaiting a final decision for summer programming. We’ve historically used Read to Achieve funds to support the summer learning programs for struggling young readers. Additional funds may be available for older grade levels. Eligibility requirements for Read to Achieve are strict, but typically require the involved student to be reading below grade level. Eligibility requirements will be for the older students will be determined by the funding grants.

Ellen Coble presented the Development Committee update. A Spring fundraiser has been discussed in conjunction with the Parent Council. The initial proposal favored a simple online format. A Courtyard fundraising campaign utilizing Thursday’s Notes, social media, and emails has been proposed by the committee. This would also include phone calls to those parents who may have capacity for larger donations. Both of these fundraising efforts will ideally happen prior to the end of the school year. Funding a music technology program by way of grants is also being discussed by committee members. Leasing the equipment was brought up but is not a viable option because of the nature of the funding.

Ellen Heck announced a motion from the Nominating Committee to approve a new Executive Committee- Dara Silver as Chair, Larry Barron as Vice Chair, Kyle Barnes remaining as Finance Chair, and Tomisha Gladman as Secretary. This was seconded by Christopher Gilmore. The motion was approved by vote of the Board.

Griff Morgan presented the Executive Committee update. We will not be allowed to conduct COVID testing at the school. The nursing agency that we use will not allow their nurses to do that. The State and the CDC have announced that it is no longer necessary to temperature screen or administer pre-screening questions before allowing students to come to school. However, because we feel that some parents made the decision to have their children return to in-person instruction based, at least partially, on the pre-screening protocol we will continue this practice through at least the May Board meeting. Shortly after the decision was made to return to in-person learning with K-5 on Plan A and 6-8 on Plan B, requirements for 6-8 grade students were changed from 6-foot distancing to minimal 3-foot distancing. However, after examining the classroom dimensions and class sizes, it has been determined that we cannot physically meet even the lower threshold requirements for 6-8 graders to return on Plan A.

Ellen Coble added that the School received a donation of books, Cootie Shots, that will be delivered soon.

Becky Dickson presented the Parent Council update. The Council organized a coffee truck and pastry delivery service yesterday. Picture Day is coming up and the Council is soliciting parent volunteers to assist. Katherine White announced an upcoming Parent Council meeting for Friday April 16. Volunteers for Board positions on the Parent Council are currently being sought.

Griff Morgan moved to adjourn. This was seconded by Michele Kennedy. The meeting was adjourned by vote of the Board.